2 YEARS!!!

Today is a very special day, aside from being St. Patricks Day, it is also the two year anniversary of my last day working in an office.

Two years ago leaving the perceived security of an office job I was excited and scared at the same time. In spite of a deep belief that all I dreamed was possible and the support of friends and family there was still a profound fear deep inside that it could go all horribly wrong. In the years leading up to it I still remember asking myself “What’s the worst case scenario?” and thinking I could end up broke and homeless under a bridge holding a cardboard sign. Looking back it seems silly, but it took every bit of courage and a lot of support of friends and family to take what seemed like a monumental risk. It was about into my tavels that that irrational fear finally truly disappeared. There was a moment in Dharamshala, India when I suddenly realized not only was everything going exactly as I hoped, everything was going exactly as it should.

I’ll fill in some blanks later on the last two years… I’ve seen a good bit of North America and I’ve traveled through half dozen Asia countries. In those places I’ve worked as a professional photographer and taught english to Tibetan monks and orphans. I’ve made contacts with people doing amazing humanitarian work for the UN and other NGO’s and I’ve made friends from ever corner of the world as well. With those friends I’ve danced and partied in disco’s until sunrise, lounged in hammocks and yes even performed in a fire dancing show… I have been living my dream life.

When I first arrived back in the United States a lot of people would ask “What was the best part of the trip?”. I stuggled to have an answer for that question. Was it ridding elephants in a parade the first weekend in Thailand? Was it performing in a fire dancing show to raise money for charity? Was it teaching Tibetan Monk English? Was it spending the weekend with Elena on houseboat on the Kerla backwaters in India? Was it nearly dying kaykaing in Nepal? Was it nearly dying trekking in Nepal? Was it playng with street kids in Laos? Was it… well that’s the problem when friends would ask me that question I’d immediately think that there were a hundred “best parts” of the trip that I could tell them about. I do have hundreds of amazing stories to share that’s for sure. However, it took a long time for me to truly realize and appreciate what the best part of the trip was. The best part is unquestionably the trip’s effect on me. It is the change I feel inside. A lasting feeling I have that for a first time in a long time that each day is better than the last. A feeling that not only is anything possible, but anything is atainable.